Silence is Sometimes the Best Remedy
by WonderAvian
Summary: AU. Witnessing his parents death left on an imprint on young Dick Grayson's mind- there is barely a night where he doesn't wake screaming from his sleep. Robin and Kid Flash friendship.
1. See them fall

The boy on top of the platform tilted his head in slight confusion. There had been a strange creaking noise in the air above him and his family. He listened closely, but it didn't sound again. He put it to his imagination.

The boy shook his head slightly, as if to clear it, and turned back to where his whole family were swinging in front of him on the trapeze, performing various death-defying tricks and feats with complete ease.

The crowd roared, and "oooed" and "ahhed" in all the right places. After all, the daring trapeze family were doing it all without the safety of a net.

The boy smiled sadly as he watched his family perform. Usually, he would be out there too, but he was still deemed too young to perform the most dangerous and challenging tricks without the safety of the net.

Oh well. At least he had the best seat in the house, right? He was still happy to watch his family perform, even if he was sad about not being able to perform himself because he was too young…

Did that even make any sense? Meh, it didn't matter.

The boy tilted his head again, blinking several times. It was that noise again. That strange, foreboding creaking noise that set the boy's nerves on edge. The boy stiffened. It definitely wasn't his imagination.

What was that sound? He thought furiously. He just couldn't place it...

 _Snap._

The boy's eyes widened as he reached out for his parents with one hand.

"Mamă! Tată!"

 _Crack._

The following silence was ominous. Then, there was a scream.

Everything that happened from there was a blur. He wasn't really quite sure what happened and in what order. Everything seemed to go tunnel vision. The one thing he could remember however, was their bodies. His family's bodies. All twisted and broken.

There was blood. So much blood.

BREAKLINE

He eventually came out of his semi-conscious state when a deep baritone voice asked gently,

"Richard Grayson?"

The boy looked up from where he had collapsed onto the ground with his head bowed and his eyes closed. Confused, he blinked up at the man who had said his name, and looked around at the empty circus grounds before looking back at the man with a tear-stained face and weary eyes.

"Richard, my name is Bruce Wayne. I was watching the performance earlier."

"My name is Dick," the boy barely whispered.

The man didn't miss a beat. "Well then, it's nice to meet you, Dick."

Dick didn't reply, and instead gazed around at the empty circus grounds, the train long gone. He sniffled and hiccupped slightly.

"The circus… can't keep me… anymore," he said miserably in broken English, "they've all… gone away."

Bruce Wayne gently laid a hand on the small boy's shoulder. Dick glanced up at him in surprise.

"You can come live with me if you want."

Dick stared up at the almost-a-complete-stranger with wide, insanely bright blue eyes. The man smiled kindly down at him.

"I'd… like… that," Dick said slowly, "thank you… Mr. Wayne."

Bruce Wayne chuckled. "Just call me Bruce. Mr. Wayne was my father's name."

Dick nodded, and slowly stood up with Bruce's help. They walked over to where a car was waiting for them.

"I already had all of your belongings put together in case you accepted," Bruce said kindly as he gave Dick the bag that contained all of his worldly possessions.

Dick sniffled slightly as he took the bag from Bruce. "Thank you."

Bruce smiled. "And there is something else."

Bruce handed Dick a toy stuffed elephant. Dick's eyes widened.

"Zitka!"

Bruce smiled as the boy wrapped his thin arms around the toy elephant and hugged it tight to his chest. He looked up at Bruce with tear-filled eyes.

"Thank you… so much… Bruce."

BREAKLINE

About halfway through the car ride back to Bruce's place, Dick suddenly spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

Bruce turned to look at the small boy, who was nervously clutching Zitka the elephant to his chest.

"For what?"

Dick paused, thinking hard for a moment before answering.

"You said Mr. Wayne was your father's name. So that has to mean he's… gone."

Bruce could only stare at the small boy sitting beside him.

BREAKLINE

Dick was speechless as he stared up at the imposing mansion in front of him. It seemed surreal to the young acrobat after so much time in the circus.

"You… live here?"

Bruce nodded.

"Well, I am a multimillionaire," he said casually as he eyed the young acrobat who was still staring at the mansion with his mouth open in a small 'o'.

They entered the mansion and were greeted by the butler, who had an obvious British accent.

"Hello, Master Dick. My name is Alfred. Master Bruce told me you were coming to live with us over the phone."

Dick nodded. "It's… nice… to… meet… you," he said slowly and frowned in frustration at his bad English.

Bruce chuckled and squeezed Dick's shoulder while Alfred smiled warmly and said, "You do have nice manners, Master Dick. Do not worry, I can teach you to speak better English. Until then you can speak Romanian whenever you are not comfortable with English, as I am familiar with the language."

Dick visibly brightened. "Mulțumesc… thank you, Alfred."

BREAKLINE

Dick spent the rest of the day exploring the mansion with Bruce, showing off many acrobatic feats as he did so. One such trick was how he learned he was not allowed to swing from the chandelier.

"My parents… used to… call me… their little Robin," Dick told Bruce as he swung off the chandelier, flipping twice in the air before landing gracefully on both feet. The young acrobat moved his black bangs out of his face, bright blue eyes looking sad for a moment before perking up again when he saw the stair banister.

Dick turned towards Bruce, who shook his head no.

Dick stuck out his bottom lip, and gave the best puppy eyes he could muster.

The usually quiet and foreboding mansion was soon filled with the happy cackling-like laughter of the circus-born child.

Both Bruce and Alfred welcomed and appreciated the laughter. It would be nice to have a younger person lighten the usually dark and gloomy place up.

BREAKLINE

When Alfred showed Dick where he would be sleeping, the young acrobat was amazed at the size of his bedroom, and, most of all, his bed.

"I get… to sleep… on that?!"

Alfred chuckled as Dick went to bounce on top of the bed.

"It's huge! Wait…," Dick stopped bouncing and looked questioningly at Alfred.

"No bouncing on the bed, young Master Dick," the butler confirmed.

Dick stuck his bottom lip out and pouted, turning his best puppy eyes to Alfred, but only for second when he saw the stern look the butler was giving him.

Dick sighed. Oh well, he thought, the puppy eyes can't work on absolutely everyone.

BREAKLINE

Dinner, by the circus-born boy's standards, was extravagant. He quickly learned not to eat too much too quickly, however, as it was far too rich for him. That, and he wouldn't want to miss out on Alfred's amazing cookies.

BREAKLINE

Later that night, Dick had the first of many night terrors. He thrashed around in his sleep, and screamed for his family not to fall. He saw their broken and twisted bodies again.

There was the blood. So much blood.

"Mamă! Tată! Nu!"

It only stopped when Bruce barged into the child's room, shouted for the young acrobat to wake up as he wrapped his strong arms around the boy's tiny and lithe frame. Bruce whispered comforting Romanian words and phrases he had learnt from Alfred into the distraught child's ear as he cried, rubbing circles into his small back.

"Mamă… Tată… nuuu…"

"Shh… e ok, mica pasare."

Dick buried his head in Bruce's shoulder.

He was only nine.

He didn't speak for a long time after that.


	2. Gotham

**A/N Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Reviews are to me what Alfred's cookies are to Wally, in that THEY'RE VERY GOOD.**

 **Now all I have to do is figure out how to do a friggin breakline so my work doesn't look so disorganised.**

 **BREAKLINE**

He was scared. He was so scared.

His parents had fallen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

They were lying dead on the cold hard ground, their blood soaking into the floor.

He had run down to them in the following chaos. He tried to wake them up, but they weren't responding.

He brought his hands up to his mouth, choking on sobs and Romanian prayers.

That's when he realised he could taste blood. He had their blood on his hands, and it had gotten in his mouth.

He could even taste it.

He screamed.

 **BREAKLINE**

When Dick woke up that morning, the first thing he was aware of was how sore his throat was. He must have done quite a lot of screaming and crying for it to feel so bad. He was also parched.

The second thing he was aware of was the fact that Bruce was lying next to him (still in his pyjamas) with a protective arm draped around Dick's small form.

This had Dick feeling quite surprised for a long moment, and he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit awkward about the fact that he must have fallen asleep while Bruce had been comforting him, and Bruce had deliberately chosen to stay with him over night.

It was very kind of him. Dick just didn't want to be a burden.

Dick carefully prodded the older man awake. A few seconds later, Bruce had taken his arm off Dick and was rubbing his eyes slightly, yawning. He then turned to look at the small raven-haired boy sitting up beside him.

"How are you feeling?"

Dick honestly didn't feel like answering, so he just shrugged. Besides, his throat hurt too much right now to say anything. He pointed to his throat with such a sad expression on his face, it was heartbreaking.

Bruce didn't say anything, instead he carefully picked the small boy up in his strong arms and carried him into the kitchen. There he put the small boy down in a chair at the long table at filled a glass almost to the top with cool water and handed it to Dick, who gratefully accepted.

Bruce had a soft expression on his face as he watched his ward completely drain the glass he had been given. After Dick set the glass down, the billionaire reached over and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Better now?" he asked caringly.

Dick just nodded. He pursed his lips and frowned, looking down at his hands which were placed firmly on his knees. He seemed lost in thought.

There was a slight pause until Dick's hands suddenly curled into fists, and a fierce expression showed on his face, one that should never appear on any nine year old's.

Bruce took that at his cue to gently take one of Dick's much smaller hands in his own, and said gently, "If you'd like, there is something I can show you."

Dick slowly looked up with red, weary, but slightly angry blue eyes at Bruce, and nodded.

 **BREAKLINE**

Dick gazed around the interior of the Batcave in awe. The vast space was even bigger than the old big top back at home…

No. The circus wasn't his home anymore. His home was at Wayne Manor now. His home was with Bruce.

Speaking of Bruce, the billionaire was now standing in front of Dick in a strange costume that Dick thought looked rather strange on the man he had been beginning to feel close to, even only after one day.

That was until Bruce slipped the dark cowl over in front of his face, and Dick felt chills run through him.

The… thing… that was standing in front of him… that wasn't Bruce.

But when he spoke, it sounded just like the billionaire who had chosen to rescue him from being left behind at the circus, only lower and gruffer.

"Dick, it's me. Bruce. But right now, I'm Batman. As Batman, I am a vigilante here at this city."

Dick blinked. _Vigilante? Was that like a superhero?_

Batman nodded, having seemingly recognised Dick's unspoken question in his puzzled expression.

"If you want to put it that way, then yes, I am a sort of superhero."

Dick's eyes widened at that.

 _That is so cool._

Batman then turned around and typed something up on the large computer screen behind him. A photo of a man's face came up, and Dick stiffened.

This was the man who had murdered his parents. The man who had demanded money from the circus in order to pay for their 'protection' and when he didn't receive it, sabotaged the wires so that Dick's whole family would fall to their deaths as revenge.

The resounding _crack_ echoed in Dick's ears, and he glared at the picture of the man on screen.

Batman turned to the young acrobat with an unreadable look in his masked eyes.

"I believe you know who this man is. His name is Tony Zucco, and we are going to bring him to justice," the cowled crusader said flatly.

Dick stared at Batman with utter confusion on his face. _We?_ Dick didn't fight crime, and he certainly didn't bring anyone to justice. Surely that was Batman's thing alone?

But as Dick stared up at the photo of the man who had killed his whole family, a sudden rush of emotion ran through him.

He _would_ bring this man to justice. He _would_ make him pay for what he did.

And most of all…

He _would_ make his parents proud.

Dick looked to Batman, who was patiently awaiting his decision.

Wordlessly, Dick nodded, his face determined.

He would do this.

"What will be your name?" Batman asked.

Dick answer came to him almost immediately.

He stood up straight, looked Batman in the eye and answered through an unwavering glare, _Robin._

 _I'm going to be Robin._

For a few seconds, batman was silent.

But then he smiled- _smiled_ \- and nodded approvingly.

Dick grinned.

 **BREAKLINE**

Dick stared at himself in the mirror. No- Robin stared at himself in the mirror.

Masked eyes stared back at him, and he blinked owlishly for a moment before narrowing his gaze into a fierce Batglare.

He stood up straighter and struck a pose, puffing out his chest.

 _My name is Robin the Boy Wonder, the circus boy who lost his whole family and came back fighting for justice._

 _And nothing and no-one is going to stop me._


	3. Getting used to it

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or the Batman series.**

 **A/N I apologise if this seems rushed. I did edit it though. Would someone please tell me how to create breaklines?**

 **xXx**

Robin trained.

He trained a lot. He trained in multiple types of martial arts, weapons, phycology, advanced acrobatics (although he really needn't bother) and escape artistry, even going so far as learning how to dislocate his limbs to get out of certain situations- and this was all amongst other things.

It hurt, sometimes. But the thing was he didn't mind. As long as he learned, he told himself, as long as he got better so he would be able to bring Tony Zucco to justice, he would put up with it.

While Robin worked hard at becoming a suitable sidekick- partner? - for the Dark Knight himself, Batman would keep tabs on Tony Zucco.

Outside of training to really earn his place as Robin, Dick would spend time with his new family.

He learned to play sports with Bruce. His favourite was basketball. They would read stories on the couch together, although it would always be Bruce who read them out loud. Dick would meanwhile cuddle up against the older man's side and rest his head against chest, arm or elbow, depending on what position he was in. Bruce would ruffle his hair, and, if it was getting late and/or Dick was tired, would tenderly pick the tiny boy up in his arms and take him to bed.

Every night Dick would have nightmares.

Sometimes they would just gave him a small feeling of fear and he would wake up, sweating and panting a little before he would eventually calm down and fall back asleep without disturbing the adults living in the mansion.

Other times, though, the nightmares would develop into full-blown night terrors where he would wake up screaming, the blankets twisted around him like a strait jacket, constricting him and preventing escape.

Bruce would always be there whenever this happened. He would always be there whenever Dick cried, sobbing wordlessly into the older man's pyjama top. Bruce would hold him until his sobs eventually subsided and he would fall into a restless sleep.

It soon became routine, where Dick would experience his night terrors, take his time in getting over them, get up, get dressed, have breakfast with Bruce and Alfred, brush his teeth, put the Robin suit on, and train.

He would get to know Bruce and Alfred better. For example, he learned that Bruce too lost his parents at an early age and became Batman to fight criminals and prevent anything like that ever happening again to someone else, which only raised Dick's respect of the man he was starting to see as a father figure.

He learned all the rules that had to be followed around the mansion and what he could and couldn't achieve with the famed puppy eyes.

He learned how to cook, his favourite recipe being Alfred's amazing cookies, although he was quick to admit he could never quite hope to rival the butler's cooking skills.

In all this time, neither Dick nor Robin said a word.

So Alfred taught him sign language. It became quite useful around the manor, but Dick also became quite skilled at communicating with his new family via body language and expression, so he didn't really need to use sign language very much at all anyway.

 **XxX**

That was until he met the paparazzi, and everyone who Bruce worked with at Wayne Tech.

It had of course been inevitable- being _the billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne's_ ward would of course have some repercussions and some unwanted attention from the crowd and the rest of the world.

For the most part, Bruce would keep Dick away from the vulture-like media as much as was possible, which Dick was immensely grateful for. He didn't feel at all comfortable around so many people who seemed to only respect him for a good story and not as a person.

He would often cringe whenever something came up about him in the media or someone came up to him on the street and started asking questions.

So Dick quickly preferred to stay inside most of the time.

He learned to put up with it though. He would put on a false smile and would answer any questions to the best of his ability in sign language, which all the news reporters would then turn to Bruce Wayne to translate for him, and Dick would be grateful that not all of the attention would be on him.

Headlines were soon spread around Gotham city that Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne had adopted a circus boy of all available candidates. Some even called him things like a charity case.

Dick would frown unhappily whenever he heard of something like this. Bruce would simply tell him to ignore those people and tell him that they were mindless idiots and that they should all be rounded up and have some sense knocked into them.

Dick would smile at that, lift his head up and nod furiously, sometimes allowing a feral-looking grin to grace his features.

The people who worked at Wayne Tech however were a completely different story.

To make it short, Dick knocked their socks off with his charm and complete child-like adorable-ness.

Bruce chose to introduce Dick to everyone at once to save time.

Dick took one look at all the serious- looking people before him before signing rapidly,

' _Hello, my name is Richard Grayson but you can call me Dick, hey I love that hat you're wearing what brand is it- hey is that a spinning chair I could try out please- wow would you look at the view this is so cool-'_

It was obvious that no-one had any clue what the small boy was saying as he gestured frantically and gazed around with eyes that were oh so blue that their hearts immediately melted.

Dick was showered with praises and compliments the while time he was there. Dick fiddled with his tie nervously and looked at Bruce with an adorable questioning look whenever someone did so.

To be honest, all Dick wanted to do was ride that spinning chair down the hallway- and he did, eventually.

There would be no-more visits to Wayne Tech until Dick was substantially older.

 **xXx**

It was several months later that Batman decided that Robin was finally ready to go out on patrol with him for the first time, to see if he was ready.

Needless to say, Robin was excited. He was determined to make this night a success, he wanted to make Batman proud of him- and, needless to say, he did.

The pair now known as the Dynamic Duo stopped several muggings and a robbery. While doing so, Robin would laugh that same, ghostly cackle he had done so on his first day at Wayne Manor, before his night terrors began.

Only this time, it came out sounding hoarse and raspy.

The Duo were about to finish for the night when they came upon a man threatening to rape a young woman in an alleyway. He held a gun.

Surprisingly enough, the Boy Wonder got there first.

Robin didn't laugh. His face remained emotionless as he charged the criminal, lashing out with a flying kick.

The man un-expectantly looked up, noticing the Boy Wonder about a meter away from his face. He brought his gun up out of pure instinct and fired, just as Robin's foot connected with his face.

The bullet tore right through Robin's shoulder, and the boy grimaced in pain.

Batman arrived seconds later, making sure the criminal was unconscious before turning to make sure Robin was alright.

Robin was gritting his teeth against the pain as he pressed one hand against his shoulder. Blood flowed out between his fingers. Damn, getting shot hurt more than he had expected. He would need a new and better Kevlar suit after this. Oh, he was so in for it when they got back to the cave.

Barely noticing that the woman had run off, Batman quickly turned to his partner and inspected the wound, checking to see if the bullet had hit anything vital. Fortunately enough, it didn't seem that way, but there was still too much blood flowing from the wound to make Batman feel uncomfortable.

Robin's face was pale, his expression taut with pain as Batman reached into his utility belt for bandages. He tried to focus on calming his breathing as the Dark Knight set to work on bandaging his shoulder.

Batman finished quickly, but not before checking that the bandages were on tight. "Let's go," he said curtly, holding the small boy in one arm before firing his grappling hook into the night. Robin held on to Batman with his one of his arms and both of his legs wrapped around the Dark Knight's torso, his heart heavy.

Batman flew quickly and silently.

 **XxX**

Once back at the Batcave, Robin stood, turning to Batman with a crestfallen expression. He fully expected the Dark Knight to reprimand him on how he should have been more careful and wait for Batman before he attacked the criminal.

There was a pause in which Robin swallowed heavily and looked down at his feet with tears bubbling up in his eyes, certain he was about to get scolded.

He was certainly surprised when he felt a pair of gentle hands on his shoulders, prompting him to look up.

Bruce Wayne stared down at him, his cowl down so Robin could see his eyes.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Bruce said quietly.

Bruce led Robin into the med bay and propped him up in a sitting position on the bed. Robin removed his mask, becoming Dick. He then gingerly took off the upper part of his costume, and allowed Bruce to get to work on removing the bloodied bandages.

Dick tried not to flinch or wince in pain every time Bruce's fingers accidently aggravated his wound. It hurt like hell, but he was determined not to show pain. He had been taught not to show pain, not to show weakness of any kind, and most of all he wanted to make both Batman and Bruce proud. He would show them…

A horrible throb of pain went through his shoulder and Dick couldn't help but flinch, tears of pain and regret bubbling up in his eyes. He shut them tightly.

Bruce spoke quietly, "The bleeding has slowed, but I am going to have to apply more bandages, more carefully this time. Hold still."

Dick did as he was told. He did his best, but he couldn't help jolting upwards slightly when his shoulder was half wrapped up tightly in the bandages.

Dick felt horrible, like he had failed.

So he was very surprised when he felt gentle arms wrap themselves around his small form, making sure not to aggravate his wound. He jumped at the contact, but he eventually melted into the embrace.

Bruce stroked the raven locks of hair as the young acrobat cried into the older man's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, Dickie-bird," Bruce whispered.

Dick looked up with red, tear-filled, disbelieving eyes at Bruce.

 _You're not mad at me?_

Bruce shook his head slightly and sighed.

"I was, but I'm not now. You worried me, Dick. I didn't like seeing you hurt like that I want you to promise me that you won't rush into things like that again, okay?"

Dick sniffled, and nodded. He understood.

 **xXx**

Bruce let Dick sleep in the medbay that night. He looked on silently with a grim expression as his young ward slept.

The boy looked peaceful in sleep, his back carefully elevated slightly, his expression untroubled by nightmares for once. They would probably come later as he had only just fallen asleep.

Bruce was scared. He was scared that Dick could have died that night because he wasn't there to help him.

The kid had been shot on his first patrol. And yet, he had acted unlike any other kid his age would have in his situation by for the most part refusing to break down.

It made Batman feel proud of his young partner, but it scared him because Dick was so young and so innocent. He really shouldn't be going through the whole vigilante phase, but should be enjoying his time as a child while he still could.

Bruce sighed, and shook his head. The sooner Dick could get better, he decided, was the sooner they would go after Zucco.

And after that, the sooner Dick could have a relatively normal life.

If he wanted too, that was.

 **A/N I edited this to make it seem a bit more realistic. It still sucks though. Wally soon.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated.**


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